Quantum dots (QDs) coupled to photonic crystal cavities are interesting both as a testbed for fundamental cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) experiments, as well as nano-scale devices for optical quantum and classical information processing. In addition to providing a scalable, robust, on-chip, semiconductor platform, this coupled system also enables very large dipolefield interaction strength, as a result of the field localization inside of sub-cubic wavelength volume (vacuum Rabi frequency

more »

... is in the range of 10s of GHz). In this paper, we describe some of the recent experiments performed on this system in our group. Interaction of QD with cavity mode happens in two different regimes: weak coupling, where the interaction strength is smaller than the energy loss from the system (cavity decay and QD spontaneous emission) and strong coupling, where the interaction strength is larger than the losses in the system. In the strong coupling regime, the QD and the cavity mode mix and result in polaritons, which is manifested as split cavity resonance at zero detuning of the QD and the cavity mode. Thus in a strongly coupled QD-cavity system, one can probe light-matter interaction at the most fundamental level.